


do not wake

by jeien



Category: Sound Horizon
Genre: Nein Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-06 00:29:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4200972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeien/pseuds/jeien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <i>"In turning a dream into a new reality, you face the consequences of having that reality end."</i>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>In which Elef remembers something important when he sees the reflection of the moon in the water.</p>
            </blockquote>





	do not wake

**Author's Note:**

> I went to the beach for the first time recently and I wanted to write something Elef-related (once again) since I always associated the ocean with him. Of course, it started out very lighthearted, but then... 
> 
> Well, you'll see.

The waves crashed against the shore in a rough lullaby as the sun set behind him. The air was cooler now than it had been during the blistering heat of the high noon, but the sharp smell of the sea still wrapped around him as he set out, waving a hand to his sister to let her know he was going for a stroll. Elef was grateful that Misia seemed relaxed enough to let him walk beside the rolling tides. Ever since Damon dropped them off well beyond the reach of the Arcadian civil war, she had still been unusually tense. But Elef knew better than to push the subject. Despite blooming into the woman she had always aspired to be, Misia was still as stubborn as she had been when they lived in the mountains. If there was something that she was so pressed to keep to herself, nothing could ever get her to speak of it.

Every so often, he would stop and dig the top of his foot into the sand, feeling the grains fall through the gaps between his toes. It was a childish thing to do, but it was an act he could appreciate in an attempt to salvage some parts of his robbed childhood. Elef looked around to see if anyone was watching—although he knew that he and Misia were alone on the shore this late into the night and Misia was off inside their make-shift shelter roasting some fruits—before kicking up the sand, almost hitting a seagull that had been gliding down on its wings. The bird squawked before flapping heavily, rising up again into the darkening sky.

Elef smiled apologetically at the gull’s shrinking silhouette. There had been a time where he would look up in envy of the birds in the air. He had wanted the gods to bless him with his own wings to soar through the skies—free of the shackles that chained him to the past, to that forsaken rampart built upon the blood and bones of nameless slaves, to the destiny of dying without meeting his sister again. He had those wings of freedom now; Misia did as well. They were both free, as long as they continued to get away from Arcadia.

He moved closer to the water so the tides licked at his feet. Damon had recommended they go to the island of Naxos to meet with a correspondent of his, since he himself can’t guarantee them complete safety. _Pirates still need to make a profit after all,_ Damon said. The situation in Arcadia was getting dire enough that the conflict was starting to affect the neighboring areas, especially around the port towns in the gulf. Damon probably wanted to use the situation to his advantage. Elef figured that they could take a few days to finalize a plan before they set off. It wasn’t like their pursuers had managed to find them. In fact, it was like they stopped chasing the twins completely. Everything was going smoothly for them.

For some reason, Elef still felt that something was off about the entire situation.

The moon’s wavering reflection sparkled strongly in the waters once the sun had fully set. He drew towards it, remembering how Misia would always try to catch that reflection in her hand. Crouching down, he leaned forward to dip his hand into the water—if anything, it was just for old time’s sake—when another face replaced his reflection. He saw pallid skin, closed eyes, a braid on the left side, with long white tresses starting to fan out against wisps of red _something_. Elef fell back, his heart pounding wildly in his chest with a frightening familiarity.

_The moon reflected on the surface of the water…_

Elef swallowed thickly as the words faintly echoed in his mind and scrambled on his knees, quickly crawling towards the sea. He peered into the waters, nervous for what he might see this time around, but found his own startled expression staring back at him.

_And the girl reaching out her hand…_

His breath was shaky now. The words were becoming clearer in his head. He continued to stare at his reflection as something was trying to break through. Elef willed himself to remember, eyes forced shut and nails digging into the wet sand. Emotions began to bubble up from within him: ones that he thought he didn’t need anymore because Misia was with him, Misia was all he needed, Misia, Misia, Misia—

_Finally, you’ve gotten hold of it._

Elef doubled over, clutching at his head as he saw fragments of another life behind closed eyelids. There was hopelessness, there was fear, there was despair, there was—

_Farewell, my other half._

—unbridled fury.

He was still hunched over, breathing ragged, when Misia had found him. She fell to her knees beside him and lay her hands on his shoulders before asking worriedly, “Elef, are you alright? What’s wrong?”

“This,” he said hoarsely, quietly. “This is wrong, isn’t it?”

Misia brought her brows together, unsure of what he had meant. “What ‘this?’ What’s wrong with ‘this?’”

“It’s not supposed to be like this!” Elef flinched away from her hand as it moved towards his face. Misia was surprised to get such a reaction from him.

“Elef, you’re scaring me,” she whispered.

“You’re the one scaring _me_ ,” Elef countered, voice growing louder and more panicked. “You… You’re not supposed to be alive!”

“What?!” It’s true that she had escaped near death in Lesbos at the expense of Phyllis’s life, but Elef had personally saved her, hadn’t he? Misia looked into her twin’s eyes and saw the fear and confusion. This situation was delicate and she needed to approach him carefully. Maybe the stress of constantly hiding from their pursuers had taken its toll on him. “Elef… Elef, it’s okay. I’m okay. I’m alive, see? You saved me, remember? I’m alive thanks to you. Please, just—just breathe slowly and try to calm down. Everything is okay now.”

Misia drew closer to him. Elef made no move to place distance between them. Good. Maybe he was starting to come back to his senses. She smiled comfortingly and wrapped her arms around his shaking frame, guiding his head to rest on her bosom.

“Everything’s okay,” Misia said, stroking the pearly strands of her brother’s hair. “I love you, Elef. We’ll always be together from now on.”

_Together like we always wanted_ , Elef thought as he breathed in Misia’s perfume, one that had been a parting gift to her from Damon and his crew. It was almost enough to lull him to sleep and forget about the images he saw in his mind—the life he knew he would never live because Misia was right and she was here and they would be together. Elef lifted his head, ready to assure his sister that he’s fine now, when a shadowy figure behind her caught hold of his voice.

“Nechros,” the figure called out from behind his strange mask. “Will you willingly abide by Moira’s hand after all she has done to you?”

His eyes widened. Misia noticed his expression and called his name. She turned around to look at where he was staring and looked back at him, calling for him again in the same worried voice she had when she found him. “Elef?”

_She can’t see him_ , he concluded. There was something familiar about the figure. His appearance was reminiscent of the specters he grew up with in Ilion—the ones that would appear when one’s time was near its end. Yet there was something more commanding about this whatever-it-was. This presence was uncannily familiar.

“You were correct when you said she was supposed to be dead,” the masked figure continued. “The images you saw were the things meant to occur. But Moira dealt you a new set of cards: one that keeps a close eye on you through her chosen vessel.”

_Moira’s chosen vessel?_ Elef looked at Misia quickly before looking back at the shadow behind her.

“Nechros,” the figure called again. “You are one of my children—those who are fated to die. Long have I watched you grow and long have you heard my voice guiding you through your years, turning your hatred into strength to break free from the chains that kept you in Ilion. Moira wishes for your suffering because she sees myself in you: a child defiant of her capricious whims. You may have thought you turned your back on her by escaping Lesbos with your sister, but are you content with such an outcome? Are you content with this new destiny where your wings have been clipped by your own sister? Will you accept a fate where she will surely betray you herself?”

Elef didn’t know what to think. These new revelations whirled in his head in a storm of confusion. Seeing Misia alive and well was what he had always wanted, yet he couldn’t deny the inherent rightness of the images he saw in his head. He wasn’t sure about his sister being Moira’s chosen vessel or Moira using her to further his suffering, but he knew that he wanted to go back to fight. The thirst for battle riled his blood as the fleeting visions of the field crossed his mind.

“Nechros,” the figure called for what would be the final time. “Return to Ilion, should you desire to turn your back against destiny once more. Carve a path of your own choosing. You will find the man with red hair who started your suffering: the one who had slain your caretakers, the one who sold you into slavery, the one who has now slain your true family and even your closest friend. Draw upon my power and exact your vengeance—against him and against Moira herself.”

All the while, Misia had been trying to reach him. She called his name repeatedly, shook him vigorously by the shoulders, even slapped him lightly in the face. His full attention only returned to her once the masked figure descended into the shadows from where he supposedly rose from.

Elef looked Misia in the eyes and pulled himself away from her grasp. “I need to go.”

She caught onto his wrist, frantic. “It’s already late, Elef. We can leave the island tomorrow. I’m sure if those men are still chasing us, they would have had to—”

“No,” he interrupted. “I… I need to go alone.”

“Why?” Her voice had been no more than a whisper, but it was more of an accusation than a question. “Didn’t we promise to stay together? To never be apart from each other anymore?”

“Misia, I’m sorry,” Elef said. He wasn’t sure anymore how sincere they were. “But I can’t do this anymore. I need to go back and take down the bastard who did this to us in the first place—”

“You don’t need to go back!” Misia’s eyes flared in anger, tears brimming up at the corners. She clenched her fists tightly that her nails were digging into her palm and told him, “We’re both sick of what this cruel world has to offer—that’s why we ran away, wasn’t it?! That’s why we turned our backs on everyone else: because they don’t care about us. We only have each other to care for.”

“You don’t care about me at all,” Elef snapped back. “Isn’t that right? If you did, why did you stop me from helping those people? The ones who were defenseless, the ones who were beaten down, the ones who _used to be like us?!_ ”

The waves fiercely crashed against the shore and water suddenly enveloped their feet. A sob cut through the silence just as loudly.

“Because they’re not _you_ ,” Misia replied, covering her mouth as she cried. “Why are you doing this, Elef? After all we’ve been through, why do you want to leave me? Don’t you love me? Or are those slaves you’ve never even met more important to you?”

“I don’t know.” And he really didn’t. But what he did know was that they weren’t children anymore. He had held onto the illusion that Misia would still be as he had remembered her when they had still been playing in the mountains—that she would have been left untouched while she was in Lesbos. Chronos and Bios wove their lives to deny them any of their innocent wishes. Perhaps that was all part of Moira’s will, too. “I mean, I thought I knew _you_ , Misia, but I suppose I really don’t after all.”

Elef lifted his head to look up at the moon above them. He remembers the image of Misia, drowned in the lake of Astra, with the moon’s reflection neatly in her hand. Faintly, he wonders if that Misia was the one he had been thinking of all along.

“All I know is,” he began to say, catching Misia’s gaze with certainty, “that I want to be free. Truly free. Making decisions on my own without being swayed by anything else. This feeling in my bones wants me on the battlefield, so that’s where I’ll go. You’ll be safe, too—I can go back and take down the guys trying to catch us while I’m at it.”

“Elef—”

“I’m going, Misia.” Those words held a kind of finality in his tone that made Misia freeze in place. She could do nothing as he turned his back to her and said, “Farewell.”

_Farewell, my other half._

By the time Misia got a hold of her senses again, Elef was gone.

**_[ I am losing connection from <The Sixth Archive>. There seems to be an unknown <interference>. A new <factor> has appeared and is changing the data. The new outcome for this tragedy is… ]_ **

As the gates of Hades were opened, Elef gripped the hilts of his swords tightly. In the distance, he sees a throne flanked by two flames. A pair of crossed legs were the only visible things Elef and his army could see of the shrouded silhouette seated in the venerable place where the Goddess should have been.

“Moira,” he addressed as he gazed upon the figure. “Or rather, Misia… Is this the world you desired?!”

The silhouette stood and stepped forward into the light. Misia’s eyes glowed a faint white from Moira’s power, just as Elef’s eyes exuded a deep violet from Thanatos’s influence.

She smiled, “No. This is the world you forced me to create.”

**_[ The <denial> of her ad921d60486366258809553a3db49a4a has failed. ]_ **

**Author's Note:**

> It's really hard to devolve Elef and Misia's relationship! It was already strong in the original Moira and then it got even stronger in the Nein-verse. Revo never makes things easy, but I hope I somewhat did a good-enough job about it. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
